The
Rangoon Drop Tanks*************************************************
The story of the Rangoon drop tanks is related in a letter to my grandmother
(below) from Rev. Clement J. McKenna after my fathers death. The story I was
told by my father was very similar except that the tanks were not filled with
candy, they were filled with booze! Whether the good Reverend knew the 'real'
story or not remains a mystery.

The
following is a transcription of the actual letter.
**************************************************

Dear Mrs.
McGuire,
It was my privilege to know Eugene during one long journey by boat from Hampton
Roads Virginia to Bombay. I would occasionally meet him in the years that
followed.
In those days he was blessed with a keen sense of humor, and gave every evidence
of a brilliant mind. He was fearless - perhaps reckless in his flying. I remember
once when he 'flew the Hump' in a fighter plane, and it's wing tanks had holes
cut in them. He had them filled with candy, coke & cigarettes for his
friends in China. Once on board the ship, we, the Army, were awfully hungry.
He disappeared, and managed to steal a ham from under the noses of the US
Navy.
I am sorry I couldn't visit him in the more recent years. I am telling these
tales about him, because they are nice memories for his children to have.
If any of them should come west, please drop in to see me.
The news of his death saddened me. I will offer Mass for the repose of his
soul tomorrow, and for you & the family as well.

Lieutenant
Eugene McGuire of Astoria is credited with
two bombers shot down in an American and Chinese raid
which bagged 44 Japanese planes and inflicted one of the
heaviest blows of the war on the Japs. Originating at
United States Air Force Headquarters in China, the news
just arrived here.

Targets Attacked
The Japs were apparently attempting to
wipe out airfeilds
at two advanced United States posts from which the 14th
United States Air Force has been launching attacks on targets
in central China and northern Indo-China.
The Japs sent over about 150 bombers and fighters, but the
greatly outnumbered Americans and Chinese intercepted the
raiding formations. Lieutenant McGuire broke off his part in
the engagement only after half a dozen cannon shells had hit
his Warhawk fighter plane.

Jettisoned Bombs
Most of the undamaged Japanese bombers
were forced to
drop their bombloads before reaching their objectives. Only minor
damage was caused to American ground installations.
Lieutenant General Joseph W. Stilwell's headquarters in China
disclosed yesterday that the bases attacked by the Japanese were
in Hunan province.
Lieutenant McGuire is the son of Mrs.
James McGuire
of 23-33 31st street, Astoria.

*************************News Article 2 of 2
*************************The
following is a transcription of the actual news article pictured
on left. (Click for full size)

U.S.
Fliers Win Victory in ChinaBy Darrell
Berrigan

THE
14TH U.S. AIR FORCE, China July 25 (UP).- American and Chinese fliers
have dealt the Japanese Air Force in China one of its worst defeats
of the war by destroying or damaging 44 planes in day-long battles
against powerful enemy formations that successfully raided two advanced
U.S. bases.
Only one American plane was lost in the air combats which took place
Friday and cost the enemy at least ten fighters and six bombers
shot down, 12 fighters and seven bombers probably destroyed, and
six fighters and three bombers damaged.

OUTNUMBER
AMERICANS

Attempting
to wipe out airfields from which the 14th U.S. Air Force has been
launching attacks on targets in central China and northern Indo-China,
the Japs sent about 150 bombers and fighters against the two bases,
but the greatly outnumbered American and Chinese airmen intercepted
the raiding formations.
Most of the Jap bombers were forces to jettison their bombs before
reaching their objectives, and only minor damage was caused to American
ground installations.

(Announcing
the great air victory, a communique from Lieut.-Gen. Stilwell's
Headquarters disclosed Sunday that the bases attacked by the Japs
were in Hunan Province, south of the Yangtze River. A broadcast
by the Tokio radio identified them as the Hengyang and Lingling
Airfields in Southern Hunan.)

The
Japs started their attacks early Friday morning, sending two
strong formations in simultaneous raids against the two bases.
Lieut.
Truman Jeffries, Winters, Tex., leading one of the flights of
intercepting Warhawks, scored one of the first American victories
of the day by shooting down a bomber.
Lieut. Lloyd Martin Starkville, Miss., had a narrow
escape when his plane was attacked from all sides. He dove into
a cloud bank and eluded the enemy.
Although the wing of his Warhawk had been hit
by a cannon shell, Lieut. Eugene McGuire, Long Island, N.Y., attacked
a formation of bombers, probably shooting down two of them. He only
broke the engagement after four more cannon shells hit his plane.
The Japs renewed their attacks in the afternoon, this time sending
waves of raiders from several directions.Col.
Casey Vincent, Natchez, Miss., forward echelon commander, officially
became an ace by destroying a bomber, his fifth air victory in the
China theater.

Here
is the Account from the China Weekly

China
Weekly
The NEWS, OF, BY And FOR The AMERICAN FORCES In CHINA
VOLUME L NUMBER 4
Page One APO 627 Saturday July 24, 1943JAPS OPEN OFFENSIVE WITH NEARLY 150 PLANES,
LOSE 14 CONFIRMED AND 18 PROBABLES
AMERICAN AIRMEN THROW BACK ALL-DAY ATTACK, LOSE ONLY 3 PLANES AND
NO PILOTS
_________________________________________________

HEADQUARTERS, 14th U.S. AIR FORCE, July 23. – Nearly 150 Japanese
bombers and fighters opened an all-day, clear weather offensive
against advanced American bases in China today and American pilots
threw it back in their teeth by shooting down 14 confirmed bombers
and fighters, probably 18 others, and damaging three with the loss
of only three American planes and no pilots. Broken down, the score
for the Americans reads: 9 Zeros, 5 bombers confirmed, 11 Zeros,
7 bombers probables.
The fight began early this morning when the Japs threw two simultaneous
attacks against two advanced American bases. Lt.
Truman Jeffries led one flight of intercepting P-40’s.
With his wing-man, Lt.
Thomas Bennett, Jeffries caught a Zero and bomber away from
their formations. Jeffries poured a burst into the bomber and watched
it explode and disappear in flames in the overcast. Bennett on his
wing caught a Zero turning into Jeffries. “I didn’t
have anything else to do,” Bennett said sadly, “but
shoot him.” He saw the Zero fall to earth flaming. Later,
Bennett got a probable Zero and Jeffries damaged another.
Lt.’s Phil Kinsley and George
W. Lee together filled a Zero full of holes, but were unable
to confirm him. Lt. Jess Garrett and Lt. Lloyd Martin were surprised
by Zeros who had superior altitude. Martin dove and escaped, but
Garrett, his plane riddled with holes and his windshield covered
with oil, had to land. He was uninjured.
One of the advance bases was bombed with only temporary damage to
the runway. At this base Capt.
Lee Manbeck told how he shot down a Zero in flames and saw a
bomber explode under his fire. Lt.
Morton Sher attacked a flight of bombers alone and left two
smoking through he was too busy to confirm their crashing. Lt.
Eugene McGuire caught a Jap cannon shell in his wing but
continued to fight. He attacked a formation of bombers and probably
shot down two before four more cannon shells hit his ship. “Then,”
he said, “I thought I’d better get out of there.”
Flying on McGuire’s wing Lt. C.H. Yang, Chinese pilot flying
with the American Air Force, poured a burst into the Zeros but was
unable to tell the results. Lt.
Steve Bonner “put three good bursts into a Zero, but I
was too excited to look.” Later his Zero was confirmed.
This afternoon the Japs again attacked, sending in waves from different
directions and giving Colonel
Casey Vincent, Forward Echelon Commander, an opportunity to
destroy a bomber, making his fifth enemy plane shot down. The Colonel
is now an ace.Colonel
Sam Knowles, flying Vincent’s wing, also shot down a smoking
bomber. Major
Norval Bonawitz, a squadron commander, got a probable bomber.
His wing-man, Lt. Cheng Tun-yung, a Chinese Air Force pilot, fired
a burst into a bomber, returning with a cannon hole in his rudder
when Zeros jumped him.
Group Commander Colonel
Bruce Holloway attacked a flight of Zeros alone and shot down
one, his ninth victory. “I didn’t,” he said, “use
up enough ammunition to re-load.”
In the afternoon the score mounted as follows; Lt.
Sher 1 Zero confirmed, 1 probable; Lt.
Bonner 2 Zero probables; Capt.
Manbeck 1 Zero confirmed, 1 probable (3 confirmed in one day);
Lt.
Martin Lubner 1 Zero confirmed, 2 probables; Lt.
John Stewart 1 bomber – 1 Zero confirmed, 1 bomber –
1 Zero probables; Lt.
James Williams 1 Zero confirmed, 1 Zero probable; and Lt. R.W.
Masters 1 Zero probable.

Dad
was shot down three times during his two tours in China, and luckily was able
to walk back each time. (Otherwise I wouldn't be here!) The story he told
the most though, was when he was shot down over Nanchang. This was because
it was the first time he was shot down, and he also injured
his left arm while crash landing his P40 on a Japanese airfield!! Once
safely on the ground, he quickly retrieved his .45 handgun to; "take
as many of them with me as I could!". He immediately discovered that
he could not cock the .45 because of his injured
arm. He had to hold the weapon between his knees, and then using his 'good'
arm, chamber a round into it. That was about the time that a Chinese fellow
yanked open his canopy and pulled him out. (Almost getting shot in the process
too!) The Chinese man ended up saving his life by getting him back to his
unit safely.The Japanese
were hot on his trail and he had to evade them, as well as keep his injured
arm free from infection. (Neither one a simple task in the jungle!) It
eventually took him about a week to get back to his unit. (See the telegraphs
sent to the McGuire family below. Or click here)

While
going through the box of memorabilia to create this website, I came across
a newspaper article that had been saved. I cross-checked the location and
date in the flight log and it is almost exact! (Click logbook below) It is
off by one month and one day. Could this be a different flier or is the Chinese
guy off by a month? Or maybe the newspaper got it wrong? I have noticed several bad typo's and incorrect information while researching for this website. (Many of the clippings on this site are proof!) Anyway, the two stories have very strong similarities for it not
to be 'the one'!
I have no idea if he ever followed up on this. It came to me as a complete
surprise! But knowing my dad, I'm pretty certain that he did something about
it, It's just the way he was. Besides, why else would he have kept the clipping?

UPDATE!!!
(06/10/2005)
My Uncle Pete, (dad's brother),
just confirmed the story above! He also added some missing pieces about the
news article!! And now... here is... the REST of the story!

Gene was going
to work on the subway and picked up a discarded N.Y. newspaper (not the Times, maybe the NY Post?) to pass the time
and came across the article about the Chinese felon. He read the story and
realized that he was the only one who was shot down in that area during
that period. He said to himself, "That has to be ME!!"
So he sent a Cablegram to Chiang Kaishek, who was still in power at the
time, and got the charges dropped against the accused.

The following is a transcription of the actual news article
shown above.

Chinese
Felon Seeks U.S. Flier Whom He Saved
SHANGHAI, May 6 (AP). - A Chinese convict appealed
by letter to Maj.-Gen. Claire Chennault today for the name and address of
an American pilot whom the convict says he rescued from Japanese in 1943.
Ling Chen-Min, serving a life term as a highway bandit,
wants the former 14th Air Force flier to intercede for him by mail, as a character
witness. His appeal to the Kiangsu Supreme Court is pending.
Ling's letter told this story:
On Aug. 15, 1943, three U.S. planes bombed enemy gun
positions at Nanchang, Kiangsu province. One plane was hit, and crash-landed.
"One American pilot got out. His left arm was
injured. In his right he held a white flag as he ran for cover. Two Japanese
were chasing him. My friend, Chow Fen-Chi and I led the pilot hurriedly to
safety, and later smuggled him to the 12th division, First Army group of guerrillas."
Ling later was falsely accused as a bandit, he said, by a traitor.

Officer Wounded
Lieutanant McGuire, officially reported as wounded today, was listed by the
Army as missing in the Asiatic area Oct. 16.
Lieutenant McGuire was credited last August with having shot down two Japanese
bombers in an American and Chinese raid which bagged 44 enemy planes and inflicted
one of the heaviest blows of the war on the foe.
The raid in which the Astoria lieutenant took part was in retaliation against
a Nip effort to wipe out United States airfields at two advanced posts in
Hunan province. Although greatly outnumbered, the American and Chinese fliers
blasted the enemy to bits, and little damage was done to the American installations.
McGuire was commissioned following graduation from the Advanced Flying School
at Lake Field, Proenix, Ariz.

Note:
many errors appear in the above article, such as the date (Oct 16?), 'Lake
Field' s/b Luke Field, and Proenix s/b Phoenix.

The
two telegraph's received by the McGuire family back home in Astoria
N.Y.

THE SECRETARY OF WAR DESIRES
ME TO EXPRESS HIS DEEP REGRET THAT YOUR SON FIRST LIEUTENANT EUGENE
MCGUIRE HAS BEEN REPORTED MISSING IN ACTION SINCE FOURTEEN SEPTEMBER
IN THE ASIATIC AREA IF FURTHER DETAILS OR OTHER INFORMATION ARE RECEIVED
YOU WILL BE PROMPTLY NOTIFIED=
ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL.
(49).

REFERENCE MY TELEGRAM TWENTY TWO SEPTEMBER CORRECTED REPORT NOW RECEIVED
STATES YOUR SON FIRST LIEUTENANT EUGENE MCGUIRE WAS SLIGHTLY WOUNDED
IN ACTION ON FOURTEEN SEPTEMBER IN THE ASIATIC AREA AND NOT MISSING
AS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED I AM PLEASED TO INFORM YOU REPORT FURTHER STATES
HOSPITALIZATION NOT REQUIRED=
ULIO THE ADJUTANT GENERAL=

Note:
1LT McGuire was shot down on Sept 14th. but the telegraph was not sent until
the 23rd. It is unknown exactly when he made it back to his unit, but the
next telegraph wasn't sent until Oct. 2. The 10 horrible days of uncertainty
were interrupted by a phone call from 1LT Mcguire from the Aid Unit in China
letting his parents know he was OK. He got into a bit of trouble for the phone
call but he didn't care!

The
second Tour

IN
EASTERN CHINA - Veteran of one tour of duty with the 14th AAF "Flying
Tigers" during which he flew 47 combat missions, Captain Eugene
E. McGuire of 23-33 31st street, Astoria, today is credited with 16
more aerial flights on his second tour.
During aerial combat he has received credit for the probable destruction
of one enemy bomber and damaging two others and the probable destruction
of one fighter and damaging two additional. He also destroyed one Jap
fighter on the ground.
Wounded in action, he holds the Purple Heart Medal. For his aerial exploits
McGuire has been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air
Medal.
Between his two tours of duty, he was an instructor at the AAF Flight
Training School at Lake(sic) Field, Arizona.

Running Low on GasorHow to fly a P-51A for 7 hours

The following
is an excerpt from "Sharks
Over China" by Carl
Molesworth. ISBN 0-02-881094-5

On March 10, three Mustang pilots were assigned to fly to a small island
off the coastal city of Foochow and strafe a cable station. Captain Ken George,
having recently returned from his crash in the Kiukiang area, led the flight
southeastward on the long haul toward Foochow. With him were Capt. Eugene
McGuire and Lt. Ed Burbank. Unbeknownst to them, a strong wind had blown
their Mustangs southward, far off course. This was first time that fighters
had ventured in this direction since the Formosa raid on the previous Thanksgiving,
so the pilots did not expect to recognize the territory beneath them.
George's flight reached the coast near Amoy, an area that looks similar to
Foochow from the air, and found an island that matched the description given
during their briefing. They strafed some buildings that looked like they
might be the target, then headed westward along the coast and strafed some
oil tanks. Finally, they circled over an airfield for awhile in hopes of
stirring up some response, but the field appeared to be deserted, so they
took up a course designed to send them back to Suichuan.
The Mustangs flew for a while but were unable to make radio contact with
anyone. George's wing tanks had failed to jettison when he tried to drop
them, forcing him to use a higher power setting to overcome the drag they
created. Eventually George began to get low on gas. He belly-landed his plane
near the town of Linhsien, well south of Suichuan, and suffered minor cuts
on his face. Friendly Chinese quickly took him to safety. Captain George
returned to the base later in the month.
When McGuire and Burbank began to run low on gas, they found a tiny glider
field with a twelve-hundred-foot runway and put their
Mustangs down there. They were toasted that evening by the Chinese station
personnel while gasoline and ammunition were being trucked south from the
auxiliary field at Namyung. The next afternoon, the two pilots gunned their
fighters down the short airstrip and headed north for the hour's flight home
to Suichuan. During their debriefing by the 76th's intelligence officer,
the two pilots agreed that a P-51A could remain in the air for seven hours
if it was;
(a) equipped with twin fifty-gallon drop tanks,
(b) flown at
settings of twenty-two inches to twenty-three inches of manifold pressure
and 2050 revolutions per minute, and
(c) its fuel-air mixture was set on "auto
lean."